I have in my current story and underage girl named Esma who is 17 almost 18 and she is dating a 22 year old Montoya. There is another female character who is the same age as Esma who wants to date Montoya so she wants to break them up. In doing this she has called the cops to report them. What I want to know is can the cops show up at the house to confront them about the relationship or not? Please note they are not actually sleeping together but they are living together.
You'll have to give more details, like where the story takes place. In a lot of U.S. states 17 is the age of consent.
Yeah, I was thinking this same thing. Might have to nudge her age down into the ookie zone for sake of plot.
I thought in California the age of consent was 18 and if the minor was more then 3 years younger then the major the major could get a misdemeanor.
No. There is a recent case in Canada where a 15 year old runaway wasn't returned to the parents by the police. It raised a lot of ire in many people but it did happen.
Legally, the parents must grant a minor permission to move in with an unrelated adult. If the parents don't consent to it, the adult could face charges for contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Unfortunately, that's all I know about this topic.
Look up CA state law. http://www.legalmatch.com/law-library/article/statutory-rape-the-age-of-consent.html California - The age of consent in California is 18. It is illegal for anyone to engage in sexual intercourse with a minor (someone under the age of 18), unless they are that person's spouse. California employs a tiered system where the greater the difference in age, the greater the penalty. If the person engaging in sex with a minor is less than 3 years older or younger than the minor, then they are guilty of a misdemeanor. If they are more than 3 years older than the minor then they are guilty of a felony. Those over the age of 21 engaging in sex with those under 16 are subjected to more harsh penalties. At the age of 17, the cops may not care unless it's the legal guardian/parents making the complaint. Living together with no evidence of sexual intercourse is not a crime to my knowledge. It would only matter if the parents complained or the minor was living on the street: http://sites.law.lsu.edu/amicus-curiae/tag/california-runaway-child-laws/ Section 601. (a) Any person under the age of 18 years who persistently or habitually refuses to obey the reasonable and proper orders or directions of his or her parents, guardian, or custodian, or who is beyond the control of that person, or who is under the age of 18 years when he or she violated any ordinance of any city or county of this state establishing a curfew based solely on age is within the jurisdiction of the juvenile court which may adjudge the minor to be a ward of the court. You should read the rest, it addresses who can report the minor and where a police officer can intervene.
I seriously doubt the police would take any such report seriously... the caller would have to identify herself, which this girl may not be willing to do... if the caller sounded sincere and claimed to be an adult, they might turn it over to the children's services agency to investigate, but they certainly would not send out a cop to the kid's house, on the strength of nothing but such a call...
I don't think it matters who reports it, or if it's anonymous or not (a lot of crimes are reported anonymously). Once a report is made, either the police or child services would be obligated to investigate (even if it's only to go talk to the couple). Then it would depend on the investigator - a stickler might go as far as to have the girl examined for evidence of sexual activity; another might take the couple's word for it (though I'd be doubtful of that). And the investigation would also include the parents - their input would have a great deal of influence on how far things were taken.
It is possible they could -- as has been noted, 18 is the age of majority and a 17 year old who has not become emancipated through a court order, is still subject to the decisions by his or her parent/guardian. The parents could assert their custodial rights. If the parents cannot be found, or are incompetent, it is possible the police could take the 17 year old away and place them into the foster care system. On a practical level, however, a 17 year old is capable of doing a lot of things, such as simply running away from a foster placement/foster group home. Many overworked case workers would not find it worth the bother of going and finding the 17 year old, and yanking her out of the apartment where she's living with the 22 y.o., etc.
Just frame her! Plant something in her car, and have her report it to the police. Drugs, a gun, maybe stolen property!
I am puzzled by the last paragraph of OP's question. So if they are not sleeping together, what is their "crime"? Sharing rent?
good point... there's no law against a 17-year-old girl dating or even sharing a living space with an older boy, if no sexual activity takes place... and at 17, I don't think there's any state where her having consensual sex with a guy of any age is a crime... while 18 is generally considered the age of legal majority [as in being able to sign contracts], the legal 'age of consent' is another thing altogether and varies from state to state... the federal age of consent is 16... individual states' laws vary from 16 to 18...
It depends on the location. Some states the age of consent is 18 but even then the parents have to be the ones to report it.
Sorry, missed all the later posts about it being in California, which make my original post irrelevant. But it does seem barbaric that, if a minor was accused of consensual sexual intercourse, she could be ordered to submit to an examination to ascertain whether she had or not. I don't know what's involved, but I would imagine it to be quite an invasive procedure, and tantamount to rape...in the OP's scenario by proxy by the vindictive other female.
A couple of issues that should be addressed. If the minor was emancipated, she could be younger than the legal age of consent and still be considered an adult. Determining whether a female has had sex is nothing more complex or invasive than a regular gyno exam. Determining whether the hymen has been penetrated would suggest that she had, indeed, had sexual intercourse. Now, whether that was consensual or not is something that can only be determined by the girl/woman in question. And, to address the OP's question of whether the police can take any action in such a case, a third-party, uninvolved, non-family/guardian person calling the police would likely not get so much as a 'thank you kindly'. Cops may go by the location in question but there is no way for a cop to know if a girl is a minor being held under duress, is a runaway, or any other of many possible scenarios.
You ask a specific question: "What I want to know is can the cops show up at the house to confront them about the relationship or not?" I would suggest that there is only one answer to that, which is a resounding YES. If there was a complaint then they would show up and ask questions. Whether they would take any action is an entirely different matter
It is illegal in California, but not in Washington, so long as the age difference is 4 until after hits legal age. However, how is the other girl going to prove anything? the cops have better things to do that bother with than whether someone is having consensual sex a few months before it's legal (usually).
It's not illegal to socialize with a minor. Unless there is intercourse, no law has been broken by dating a minor. Illegal sexual relations may be defined to include a little more than intercourse, but usually penetration is necessary. Calling the cops and saying X has minor-Y at his/her house is unlikely to get a cop out. The caller would need to say they know the two are having sex and even then the police might want to know just how the caller knows. As for the report needing to come from a parent, I don't believe that is the case at all in any state. Such a reporting requirement makes no sense.
While I have no expertise in law enforcement, I find that scenario to be wildly unlikely. Maybe I'm wrong, but I think that sometimes in a book you have to deal with whether the truth is plausible, and in this case I'd bet that your readers would not find this scenario plausible.
